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THE SKY IS SO BLUE AND THE GRASS IS SO GREEN!

What a fabulous Spring day! Wall to wall sunshine and I've enjoyed every minute of it and got a slightly red nose and a watch mark to prove it!

This week we've split the females so that our pregnant girls are altogether in one field, near to the house where I can keep a closer watch over them. Our first cria is due in the middle of May and the rest start around the beginning of June through to the end of July, some of them are really beginning to look large now. They've gone into a paddock that's been rested for a few months and they're loving all the grass.

The weanlings have a new paddock too, and at the moment the boys and girls are still in together, but not for much longer judging by their behaviour today!

Been a great week for getting jobs done on the farm with this lovely dry weather - I've done lots of paddock sweeping, which is working really well whilst the grass is short and everything is dry. Peter's been lopping the lower branches off the trees on the boundary which makes it easier to drive the tractor underneath and gives the grass a bit more light. Today he's been harrowing where the females have been, smashing all those mole hills to bits, we have so many this year... must have been an easy winter for moles? Our chalky ground has dried up too quickly to get the roller out, though I'm sure we'll get some rain soon to soften it up a bit - certainly needs it, so bumpy driving the mower about when I'm sweeping. With the grass now growing quite quickly, I'm having to plan ahead with where I put everybody and for how long to maximise the grazing and cut down on the topping.

I've caught up on toenail clipping too, not been able to do it for a while because of my bad back. But actually I feel like a new woman - thanks to doing the big boys on my own, normally easy with them tied up, but one decided to argue with me, probably sensing I wasn't quite as strong as usual, But I didn't let go and in the process he sorted my back out! Thank you - who needs a chiropractor when you have alpacas!!

With the warmer weather I have noticed two or three animals with hair loss on their ears and faces, could be mites, so I've dosed them with Virbamec, but I think with some it's an allergy to midges and maybe certain plants starting to grow? The cat had fleas yesterday, probably been catching baby bunnies, so sprayed him with frontline, now he probably won't come near me for a week!

Beautiful photos of beautiful Alpacas - how exciting that cria are due soon! I'm glad you mentioned about the hair loss on ears and faces, one of ours has some hair loss on her neck...we dosed her and will see how she goes. :) Lisa

We have a white female who loses hair on her ears at this time of year. She regrows over winter and as soon as the midges begin, scratching just rubs all the new fibre away again! We too use Sudacrem plus a mountain of other things but never manage to really sort it out. I'm sure it isn't mites but how to sort it...mmm! Wish someone could come up with a true magic potion!

About Me

I live in the pretty Meon Valley of Hampshire with my Husband Peter and daughter Rebecca, dogs Jazz and Polly, our cat Marmalade and our lovely herd of Huacaya alpacas. We have been keeping and breeding alpacas since 1998 and our lives pretty much revolve around them, which is great most of the time!